Retro Fantasy Football

2008/09 Premier League fantasy football

Replay the 2008/09 Premier League as an old school fantasy football manager. Build a £100m squad from that season's 334 real players across 20 clubs, then play all 38 gameweeks and see how many points your 2008/09 XI can rack up. Cristiano Ronaldo is the season's most expensive pick at £11.5m.

Draft a squad from 2008/09

The 2008/09 title race

Manchester United won the 2008/09 title with 90 points, 4 points clear of Liverpool. They won 28, drew 6 and lost 4 of their 38 games, scoring 68 and conceding 24. Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Brom were relegated. Nicolas Anelka took the scoring honours with 19 league goals.

2008/09 Premier League final table

#ClubPWDLGFGAGDPts
1Manchester United3828646824+4490
2Liverpool38251127727+5086
3Chelsea3825856824+4483
4Arsenal38201266837+3172
5Everton38171295537+1863
6Aston Villa381711105448+662
7Fulham381411133934+553
8Tottenham Hotspur38149154545051
9West Ham38149154245-351
10Manchester City38155185850+850
11Wigan38129173445-1145
12Stoke38129173855-1745
13Bolton38118194153-1241
14Portsmouth381011173857-1941
15Blackburn381011174060-2041
16Sunderland3899203454-2036
17Hull38811193964-2535
18Newcastle38713184059-1934
19Middlesbrough38711202857-2932
20West Brom3888223667-3132

The bottom three were relegated. In the game, every result behind this table plays out as it really happened.

2008/09 top scorers

PlayerGoalsAssistsOur price
Nicolas AnelkaChelsea192£11.5m
Cristiano RonaldoManchester United186£11.5m
Steven GerrardLiverpool169£10.5m
Fernando TorresLiverpool143£9.0m
RobinhoManchester City145£9.5m
Darren BentTottenham Hotspur122£7.5m
Wayne RooneyManchester United127£10.0m
Gabriel AgbonlahorAston Villa125£9.5m
Dirk KuytLiverpool128£10.5m
Frank LampardChelsea1210£10.0m

2008/09 assist leaders

PlayerAssistsGoalsOur price
Robin van PersieArsenal1011£9.5m
Frank LampardChelsea1012£10.0m
Dimitar BerbatovManchester United99£9.0m
Steven GerrardLiverpool916£10.5m
Stephen IrelandManchester City99£9.0m
Cesc FàbregasArsenal83£7.0m
Steed MalbranqueSunderland81£6.5m
James MilnerAston Villa83£7.0m
Dirk KuytLiverpool812£10.5m
Ryan GiggsManchester United72£6.5m

League goals and assists only. Players who moved clubs mid-season are listed under the club they played most for.

2008/09 best-value XI

A 5-4-1 that costs £63.0m at our prices, leaving room on a £100m budget for four substitutes.

PlayerPriceest. ptsPer £1m
Shay GivenGoalkeeper · Newcastle£4.5m11124.7
Chris BruntDefender · West Brom£6.0m16227.0
Matthew TaylorDefender · Bolton£6.5m17426.8
Jlloyd SamuelDefender · Bolton£4.5m11726.0
Sylvain DistinDefender · Portsmouth£4.5m11425.3
Aaron HughesDefender · Fulham£4.5m11425.3
Fabrice MuambaMidfielder · Bolton£5.0m11422.8
James MilnerMidfielder · Aston Villa£7.0m15321.9
GeovanniMidfielder · Hull£6.5m14221.8
Aaron LennonMidfielder · Tottenham Hotspur£6.5m14221.8
Peter CrouchForward · Portsmouth£7.5m16922.5

The best return on our prices, using an estimate of fantasy points per £1m from real league stats and our scoring: 3 points per appearance, plus goals (10 for goalkeepers, 6 for defenders, 5 for midfielders, 4 for forwards) and 3 per assist. Clean sheets were not recorded per player in this era, so defenders and goalkeepers are ranked mostly on appearances. Players need at least 1,710 league minutes (half a season), and no more than three come from one club.

Most expensive players by position

The premium picks a £100m budget forces you to choose between in 2008/09.

Goalkeepers

  1. Pepe ReinaLiverpool · 0 goals, 2 assists£6.0m
  2. Petr ČechChelsea · 0 goals, 0 assists£6.0m
  3. Edwin van der SarManchester United · 0 goals, 0 assists£6.0m

Defenders

  1. Ashley YoungAston Villa · 7 goals, 7 assists£7.0m
  2. Matthew TaylorBolton · 10 goals, 4 assists£6.5m
  3. Chris BruntWest Brom · 9 goals, 2 assists£6.0m

Midfielders

  1. Cristiano RonaldoManchester United · 18 goals, 6 assists£11.5m
  2. Steven GerrardLiverpool · 16 goals, 9 assists£10.5m
  3. Frank LampardChelsea · 12 goals, 10 assists£10.0m

Forwards

  1. Nicolas AnelkaChelsea · 19 goals, 2 assists£11.5m
  2. Dirk KuytLiverpool · 12 goals, 8 assists£10.5m
  3. Wayne RooneyManchester United · 12 goals, 7 assists£10.0m

2008/09 on Retro Fantasy Football

169 managers have finished a 2008/09 season on our leaderboard (as of October 2026). The best scores so far:

  1. 2,099 pts
  2. 2,086 pts
  3. 2,060 pts
  4. 2,038 pts
  5. 2,023 pts

Points follow our scoring rules. Think you can beat them?

Draft a squad from 2008/09